Dead Hand

Heart pounding turn-based tactics and a uniquely unsettling vibe, absolutely recommend.

Uses the kind of AP system I miss in modern turnbased tactical games and an aiming system that I wish Xcom 2 had where you can target specific parts of enemies. Tough to master but I look forward to trying harder to do so. Creepy almost horror-esque atmosphere sometimes but it feels fitting. Overall a big recommendation! I almost stay zoomed in in the caves all the time just because it's such a cozy and creepy atmosphere.

I can overlook the graphics, I like the game-play but the game is way over priced. Even at 50% off I feel I paid too much. The Ai rips you off also, I got enemy parts down to zero health and they still needed another attack to destroy them. This game is fully released so I am guessing this will never be fixed. I would say grab the game if it is ever 90% off and you want a unique turn based tactics game. edit: Alright, weird damage model but I can live with that I guess. So the hull is the only good target really. The other crappy part is when enemies spawn with their weapon through the wall shooting you but it would take forever to shoot a hole through the wall to shoot them back if you do not have a missile. Saw someone else complain about that one too. Anyway, I like your game but it's still way over priced for what it is. Good Luck.

The game has a great concept, especially considering there are few pure tactical turn-based games. Unfortunately, the game needs severe improvement in several areas for it to climb out of the 'indie jank' hole. 1) Enemy AI needs improvement - they'll consistently just shoot at walls instead of maneuvering for better shots. I was hidden away behind a wall when two enemies with sniper rifles just kept plinking the wall, some tens of meters thick, in front of me. Now, if they were doing this to destroy the wall since they have unlimited ammo, that's really just cheesy and hardly 'tactical'. 2) The physics-based simulation of projectiles is silly, to the say least. Turret projectiles (especially the RPG) do all sorts of wonky things when the chassis of the unit isn't flat. For example, I had my vehicle partially in a crater, but the turret had a clear shot at my target - it was able to rotate and angle correctly to generate a direct line of effect for the projectile. However, the projectile started depressed relative to the turret's muzzle, meaning the projectile was fired lower than it should have. This happened on numerous occasions, so it seems like the physics needs some work. Too bad, we need more good pure tactical games.

Note this is a preliminary review based upon only 4 hours of play where I haven't yet won a scenario, so there may be more facets to the game than I currently realize, but since it is a positive review I thought it likely won't get worse, so I figured to get this out there rather than forget to post one later, but either way I'll update it as I get more hours in. Think of this as a cut to the bone tactical loot grinder, by that I mean don't expect a narrative or cinematic cut-scenes, they aren't there, at least as far into the game as I have played so far. In this way it might not be for everyone as it feels somewhat dry and lifeless, as you are basically just repetitively shooting and collecting loot from somewhat uninspired mobile weapons platforms, but if you treat it like a challenging puzzle it works. Playing on hard I find it challenging trying to dodge and attack upgrading your platform with loot as you go, which is fun, albeit repetitive. edit: There isn't any shop or garage at the end of the 1st level, just a new level. There are problems though with the AI, specifically one can bank on the AI to sacrifice its units without concern. For instance units will predictably fall for your bait as you duck behind cover, and expend their full action points (AP) to beeline to your position, just to stop at your doorstop and allow you to get the first attack in the new turn with your AP fully replenished, sort of like a Grubhub loot delivery service. Also, the AI will have units shoot rockets at point-blank range which damages themselves, even to the point of committing suicide, just to damage you, which clearly demonstrates that the AI is playing a fundamentally different game than you, as survival is meaningless to it. Another bothersome thing is digging with engineer units often seem like you have breached an opening sufficient to pass through, but you can't, and continued digging poses the threat of digging yourself into an increasingly larger hole that you can't get out of, i.e. game over man. Commands are easily accessible, most selected by cycling through them with the right mouse button. The graphics are sufficient for their purpose, and the music fitting with an industrial theme. It is worth the price, and I'll enjoy it for now, and within a month likely uninstall it, unless there is greater complexity as the game progresses, for instance I am hoping after successfully completing the first battle there will be some sort of shop and garage where I can buy upgrades, and if so it may have greater longevity, but I still have to find out.

I only needed 7 minutes in game to realize this isn't for me. It's too clunky. It's a very amateur effort with extremely basic controls and I just didn't like it. The tactics are so basic there's nothing more than move out of cover, shoot, move into cover every single round, or save a few action points for interrupts. The vehicle models look okay, but the sound and overall level design are really rough. Maybe when this one's out of EA it'll be okay. Wait, it's not in EA? Oh. Well. Nevermind.

Game is unplayable, gave it a good shot, but to no avail. Game is overall unfinished, with low quality textures (In high settings), unbalanced weapons (Weapons doing too little, or too much damage, Rams are an example) and rubbish enemy AI (Clipping through walls and attempting to fire through them). Its not worth the $40 price tag. And was hoping for more. This was quickly uninstalled.

Groovy

Update: 09/08/2020 Game Version 1.21: Awesome game and very helpful developer. The new update has sorted out the problem I was having with being unable to walk over certain surfaces I had dug and getting stuck. Now I am able to dig tunnels to different elevations up/down which adds so many tactical options or escape routes. Really innovative concept I wish there were more games that modelled subterranean style warfare. Look forward to seeing how it develops further as I am sure there are lots of possibilities in terms of new content or even game modes. ---- Old Issue Now Fixed ---- I really like the concept of this game and many aspects of the game mechanics. I like how it models subterranean warfare but there are some issues surrounding digging/tunnelling that, unfortunately, I find to be game breaking. I was playing as the engineer (spider with bulldozer) and it became a frequent problem that my vehicle/robot could end up digging itself or being shot into a hole which it was not able to dig itself out from. I tied to use the dig command to dig an upward slanting tunnel that would get me back up to the main surface of the cave floor but found that my robot would only dig horizontally with a lot of restrictions in being able to move around over the uneven ground that the digging created. I persisted and dug out a huge area but no matter how I positioned the robot I could not get it to make a tunnel/ramp that would get me back up to the cave floor. Realising that this was an inescapable problem I started a new game and kept testing to see if I would have the same problem of different maps. What seemed to be the case is that there are a variety of stone/material types that the cave walls can be made from. Some types I was more easily able to move over after digging and so position my robot at a upward tilted angle when digging and thereby dig a ramp out of a hole in the floor. On other material types I encountered the same problem as before. I also encountered another problem more than once where I would dig a hole and my robot would get stuck in the side of the hole rather than fall to the bottom of it; the robot was then completely stuck being unable to perform any actions like move or dig. So in that situation there was absolutely nothing a player could do. These issues would become very frustrating if one made substantial progress but got stuck loosing all progress from a bug. I think a more precise digging/tunnelling mechanic would be good to resolve this issue. If there was a tool the player could use to plot and manipulate a path in 3d space that your robot would dig along (and showed action point costs) this could enable making tunnels at different elevations easily. This would also really improve the way the subterranean 3d space could be used tactically against ones enemies. Another feature I would like to see is the ability to reverse your vehicle. I hope the developer can address this issue because I really want to like this game and will be glad to change my review to positive. I am sure there are also so many types of new content that could enhance the game and look forward to updates.

It's peak. Even if I haven't completed the game or beat the first boss in normal difficulty, this game is a truly challenging and addictive roguelike with many options and scarcity, there is always a dilemma presented infront of me especially being forced to abandon an important piece of equipment for another. I await your future projects! (Hopefully something like this turns up again ngl but with modding support)